


Call Me John

by BornToLose



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF, Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Babysitters, Children, Fluff, Gen, i'm so bad at tagging idk it's something in between platonic and ???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:21:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22683895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BornToLose/pseuds/BornToLose
Summary: John hires Joe, a university student as a babysitter for his three children. They grow to love him a lot in a short time.
Relationships: John Deacon & Joe Mazzello, John Deacon/Joe Mazzello
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27
Collections: Deazzello Week 2020





	Call Me John

**Author's Note:**

> I know I suck at writing summaries, but I kinda like this one? Also this turned out longer than expected. Hope you guys like it! I might write a part 2 at some point if y'all want me to. Btw I'm not sure if I'll be able to post my entry for tomorrow in time, so sorry in advance!

_"Looking for a part-time babysitter for my three children, ages 4, 7 and 8 (two boys and a girl). The position will be Monday to Friday from 3-8 p.m. You should be able to pick the children up from school/kindergarten and cook. Experience is required. Please send applications to johnrdeacon@gmail.com."_

After reading over the advertisement a few more times, Joe circled it. He'd done babysitting for a little more than a year now, but he'd only occasionally looked after children for a few nights when their parents wanted to go out or maybe for a weekend at most. He'd never been someone's permanent babysitter so far, but perhaps that was what he needed right now? Surely he'd get more money for his work if he took care of this man's children every day and God knows he could need some extra money for university. He hated to say this because he really loved kids and got along well with almost all of them, but he originally started this job because it was getting difficult to pay his tuition fees on his own. Of course his parents contributed to paying for his studies, but he wanted to earn his own money to some extent instead of constantly begging his parents for more money.

Aside from the financial aspects, who said it was a bad thing to spend time with the same children for a longer period? It could definitely help him find out what they liked so he could customize their activities to their interests. And if the kids were nice, why not?

Joe folded the newspaper and sat on the bed with his laptop before starting to write a draft of his application.

_"Dear Mr Deacon,_

_I saw your ad in the newspaper in search of a babysitter for your children. I've been occasionally babysitting for approximately a year and I'm confident my experience as well as my funny attitude and friendly nature would make me a good fit for the job._

_I'm currently studying drama at the University of East London. I have a driver's licence and I can cook. I'd love to meet your family and discuss my qualifications in more detail._

_I'm looking forward to speaking with you soon!_

_Sincerely,_

_Joe Mazzello"_

He'd never been a big fan of the applications he wrote, but he was kind of proud of how this one turned out and - without being presumptuous - he had a feeling chances were good he'd get the job. With the many ads he'd replied to so far, he'd come to the conclusion that including he's studying drama probably helped him because the parents thought it was helpful for playing with the children and Joe couldn't complain.

When Joe woke up the morning after he had sent the e-mail to Mr Deacon, he noticed the response popping up on his phone. He told him he'd be free tonight from 7:45 p.m. and sent his address along with it. Joe immediately typed a reply, saying he'd be there and thanking him for wanting to get to know him.

The day went by fairly quickly and soon he found himself standing in front of the Deacons' house, ringing the doorbell. It didn't take long until a man who seemed to be in his early forties opened the door, a kind smile on his face. "Hello! John Deacon," he said, offering his hand to him. Joe smiled and shook the older man's hand. "Hello, Mr Deacon!"

"You must be Joe?" he asked and the ginger nodded.

"Come in."

Joe stepped inside and glanced around the hallway as John closed the door behind him before he walked up to him and led him into the living room where a girl and two older boys were waiting patiently on the couch. "Kids, this is Joe," he introduced him to them and they all stood up, smiling up at the young man.

"Joe, this is Laura," he said, lifting the girl up. Patting the boys' shoulders, he continued, "And these lads here are Michael and Robert."

They were all smiling sweetly and babbling 'hello's, which made Joe smile even wider than before. He already knew he'd love those children.

After chatting with the kids for a while, John put them to bed and talked through Joe's responsibilities with him. "And if it's not too much of a hassle for you, I'd like you to go out with the kids every now and then. Just go to the library or the park on occasion. And please help Michael and Robert with their homework when they need it, okay?" John finished, finally handing him the list after making some minor changes.

As Joe skimmed over the paper for a second, the older man ran a hand through his greyish brown hair, sighing. "I feel like such a terrible dad for hiring a babysitter five days a week for them."

"You aren't a terrible dad," Joe promised. "A lot of working parents hire a babysitter for when they aren't at home. It doesn't mean they're bad parents."

John smiled smally. "Yeah, but since Veronica and I got a divorce, it feels like I'm really bad at handling my job and the children at the same time. It's just a bit difficult to find enough time as a full-time engineer," he explained before laughing nervously. "Anyway, I'm not here to complain about my family life! Thanks for your interest. Not many people responded to the ad and I was scared nobody would want the job, but maybe that's because of the time investment. Of course, I'll pay you more than the average hourly rate," he added with a smile, yet with a look in his eyes that didn't allow any contradictions. Apparently, he was grateful enough for Joe's eagerness that he was willing to pay him far more than his expectations.

"Thank you, Mr Deacon."

"Call me John, please. Mr Deacon is too formal, I hear enough of that at work," he chuckled.

"Okay." Joe knew he still wouldn't call him by his first name. He always called the people he worked for Mr or Mrs and he wasn't going to change that. To him, it was a sign of respect because they weren't friends or anything and he felt more comfortable doing this.

The following Monday, Joe started his babysitting job in the Deacon household. The children warmed up to him pretty quickly without any complications. They loved him for his sense of humor and the games he always came up with. It never got boring with him. When the weather was nice, he blew bubbles in the garden, played football with Robert and Michael and painted on the sidewalk with Laura; when it was raining, he did jigsaw puzzles or built forts. And of course, there were the many times they went to the park or the library - as John had suggested.

It wasn't rare for John to find the four of them watching Disney movies in their pillow fort together when he happened to come home earlier. In those cases, Joe would always apologize for not getting the kids ready for bed on time and scramble to get his things and leave. The truth was John never got mad at him for that. In fact, he found it cute that the children got along with him so well and liked spending time with him.

But it wasn't only the fun things they did together that definitively convinced him that Joe was the perfect babysitter; the children actually liked doing their school work because - he didn't know how - he found a way to make studying fun for them and honestly, John admired him for that.

"Hey lads!" Joe greeted Michael and Robert as they ran towards his relatively small car.

After he'd put their bags in the trunk and they'd sat in the back seat next to their little sister, Joe buckled his seat belt and turned around to look at them. "Do you wanna get ice cream?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes!" came the excited voices from the back of the car.

Joe grinned. "But you must promise me not to tell your dad!"

"We promise," Michael spoke up and the others agreed eagerly.

"Good because I said we'd do homework together and obviously that's not what we're gonna do now," he laughed and started the car, heading for the ice cream parlour they'd already gone to once.

In the summer, it became kind of like a tradition to secretly get ice cream after Joe picked them up. John never found out about that and so they didn't bother to stop.

One evening the children weren't tired at all when Joe helped them get ready for bed. They talked to him all the time whenever he tried to get them to sleep, always sitting up in their beds once he managed to at least get them into their rooms, although Laura padded over to her brothers' room to join their conversation. It was way past their bedtime, but he didn't have the heart to tell them to sleep now. Eventually, he picked up the book they wanted him to read to them every night, hoping they'd be quiet now - not that he didn't love listening to them talk, but he was a little afraid of John's reaction if they'd still be awake when he'd come home.

"Joe?"

"Yes, Robert?"

"Can you please sing us something? Just this one time? Please," he pleaded as the three of them made puppy eyes at him.

He smiled and thought for a moment. In an attempt to escape the situation, he said, "Kids, I can't really sing without background music."

"Do you play an instrument?" Michael chimed in.

"Guitar," he shrugged. "But we don't have one here, so shush."

Right when he opened the book, Laura babbled, "Yes, we do! Daddy plays every instrument!"

Joe couldn't help but smile, a small blush creeping up on his face upon realizing he'd have to sing _and_ play guitar for them now. "Okay… Can I borrow daddy's guitar then?"

The kids nodded and Robert pointed to their father's bedroom, telling Joe that's where he kept his instruments. As he returned with a black acoustic guitar in his hand, the children cheered, excitedly clapping their hands. He sat in the armchair by the bed and strummed a few chords. Gosh, he hadn't played in at least five months.

"You probably won't know that one," he murmured, smiling up at his young audience on the bunk bed before he started playing the first chords of _Wonderwall_. After a while, he sang along too, though more to himself than to anyone else. Stealing glances at the kids every now and then, he could tell they loved the small show he put on for them and he began to sing a bit more confidently.

When the song was finished and he looked at the children again, they had already fallen asleep. Laura was still on her oldest brother's bed, so Joe put the guitar back to where it had previously been and then carefully picked the little girl up, carrying her into her own room and tucking her in. "Goodnight, bug."

With an unusually large smile on his face, he grabbed his backpack and locked the door. As he sat in his car, he decided to text John to warn him that his children might be tired the next morning because they'd gone to bed so late.

Joe hadn't expected to like the Deacon kids that much. Sure, he'd hoped they'd get along well and have fun, but every day he worked as their babysitter felt like quality time with family. It didn't feel like work anymore. Instead, it was like he was going there voluntarily to play with 'the bugs', as he had started to call them. This job was so very different from the others, he almost forgot that he was doing it for money - until John asked him to go out for coffee so he could pay him for this month.

So they met up in this tiny but cute café on a weekend when the kids were staying at their mom's with her new boyfriend. John was there earlier than Joe, making the latter worry if he was too late. "Good morning, Mr Deacon!" He smiled at the sight of him and he honestly didn't know why. He knew he easily got crushes on older men, but not _this_ easily when he rarely even got to see him.

"John," the older man corrected him as he stood up from his chair and shook Joe's hand - which was strangely sweaty. After realizing John had probably noticed, he wiped his hand on his jeans, mumbling, "Sorry…"

He replied with a reassuring smile and gestured for him to sit down across from him. After placing their order, John turned to Joe and sighed. "First of all, I'd like to thank you so much for being there for my kids."

"You're welcome."

"They can't stop talking about you! On weekends, they ask me when you'll come back," he laughed, small crinkles appearing around his eyes. "I always have to put them off till Monday. I'm starting to believe they like you more than me."

"Oh shush!" Joe intervened. "Honestly, I'm happy to have this job. They're adorable."

"Didn't get much from their father, then," he joked and Joe blushed a bit as he shook his head. Smirking slightly upon noticing, he changed the subject. "Say, is it true that you got them to sleep by playing guitar last week?"

The ginger looked up and nodded shyly. _Why did they have to tell him about that?_ "Yeah, they asked me to sing for them instead of reading bedtime stories."

Quickly thanking the waitress for their drinks, John smiled. "Well, they definitely liked it. They've been gushing over it the entire week, begging me to get you to do it more often because they're too shy to ask you themselves."

"I'll keep that in mind for the next time," Joe said, taking a sip from his caramel cappuccino.

John held an envelope out to the younger man. "Here's your money."

"Thank you-" Joe gave him a grateful look, but he cut himself off when he opened it and counted the money. The large amount of bank notes inside didn't seem right. Even as a payment for the whole month, it was far too much. "T-this is too much," he stammered, taking a few bills out of the envelope and handing them back to John, but he refused to take it, shoving them over to him.

"No, keep it," he insisted. "You're literally paying your tuition and that's not cheap at all. You need the money."

Joe shook his head slightly, finally giving in. The older man folded his hands on the table and cleared his throat. "Actually… I was going to ask you something else."

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to stay our permanent babysitter? We all love you and we'd appreciate it if you kept doing it because you're by far the best we've ever had." He gave him a hopeful smile. "Don't feel pressured to say yes, though! I know university is hard work and you might need a break-"

"I'd love to," Joe replied, grinning widely. "Thanks Mr Deacon!" Now he couldn't help but stand up and hug him. Maybe that was too much, but he was so happy to be able to spend more time with this family.

Though taken aback a bit, John returned the embrace, patting his back. "I'll say this for the last time. Call me John."

"Okay… Thanks John?"

"Much better," he chuckled as they both sat down again, ignoring the other customers' looks. "Hey, maybe we all should do something together sometime?"

"That would be great."


End file.
